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(No Model.)

S. P. SHERMAN. KNOUKDOWN CRATE Patented Mar. 27, 1894.

Inventor,

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L m A .F

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN F. SHERMAN, OF NEWARK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HELEN A.

S. BLOOMER, OF SAME PLACE.

KNOCKDOWN CRATE.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 517,413, dated March 27, 1894.

Application filed November 28, 1893. erial No.492,220. (No model.)

To 00% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN F. SHERMAN, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Newark, Wayne county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knockdown Crates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is designed for the shipment of fruit, vegetables, eggs, or the like which I term' generally produce in boxes or packages, and more particularly when it is contained in such boxes as I have described in an application for a folding box, Serial No. 492,219, filed on the same date as this application. The crate is so constructed that it can be put together without the use of nails, glue, or other similar means of fastening, and that when filled with the boxes they serve to hold the parts in place and make the crate stronger, while it is a protection to theirconteuts during shipment.

A further advantage consists in the parts being made interchangeable and easily as sembled at the point where the fruit is grown.

This enables the crates to be shipped from the factory in a compact or knockdown form, thereby effecting a large saving in freight charges.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the crate. Fig. 2 is a side view, and Fig. 3 is an end view.

The drawings show a crate fifteen inches deep, ten andone-half inches wid e, and twentysix and one-half inches long inside measurement, designed to hold fifty one-quart boxes. The side and end views are drawn to appear one-eighth scale in the customary lithographic reproduction.

The construction is as follows: The top and bottom of thecrate consist of boards A A, one inch thick, twelve inches wide and twentyeight inches long, having at each corner a mortise three-eighths by one and one-half inches cut through, into which the tongues of the corner posts D D snugly fit; Each of the ends ofthese boards has dovetail mortises threefourths of an inch deep as shown. Into these, dovetail tenons of the end boards B B are securely fitted. These end boards are threefourths of an inch thick, six inches wide and C. The drawings show five slats on each side.

These are three-eighths by one inch, but if desired two three-eighth by four inch slats on each side can be used instead. The cross shelving O 0 consists of boards three-eighths of an inch thick, eleven and one-fourth inches wide and twenty-six and one-half inches long. They are designed to be used when boxes without covers, or boxes which are too weak to sustain the weight of other boxes are bein g shipped.

In putting the crate together the bottom board A is first laid flat with the narrow openings of the dovetail mortises upward. The four posts D D are set in the corners with the mortised sides inward and the wide ends of the mortises toward the end of the crate. The slats E E are next placed as shown in thedrawings. The crate is now ready to fill with the boxes of fruit. top board is put on with the wide openings of the dovetail mortises upward, and the tongues of the corner posts D D are inserted into the holes in its corners. The crate is completed by setting the end boards B B, and driving the dovetail tenons on their ends into the corresponding mortises of the top and bottom boards. To open the crate the end boards are first wedged outward and the top board is taken 0%.

With the above described construction the crates can be shipped to their destination for filling in a compact or knockdown form, so that a package six feetthree inches long, fourteen inches wide and twenty inches high, taking up only ten cubic feet of space and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds will contain the sheets for five hundred quart boxes of the style described in my above named ap- This being done, the

plication and ten crates, thus enabling shipment to the fruit orchard or garden with a minimum freight charge.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A knockdown crate, for shipment of produce packed in boxes or packages, made up of top and bottom boards and corner posts, the top and bottom boards being fitted to the corner posts by mortise joints, so that the corner posts are held in position by the top and bottom boards, but the parts are readily separab1e,in combination with end boards fitting into the top and bottom boards by dove-tail joints, so that the top and bottom boards cannot be removed from the corner post's until the end boards are first removed from thetop and bottom boards, substantially as described.

2. A knockdown crate for shipment of pro duce packed in boxes or packages, made up of top and bottom boards, corner posts and cross slats, the top and bottom boards being fitted to the corner posts by mortise joints, so that the corner posts are held in position by the top and bottom boards, but the parts are readily separable, and the cross-slats bein supported in mortises on the inner sides of the corner posts, in combination with end boards fitting into the top and bottom boards by dove-tail joints, so that the top and bottom boards cannot be removed from the corner posts until the end boards are first removed from the top and bottom boards, substantially as described.

STEPHEN F. SHERMAN. In presence ot' Loms SMIES,

ANDREW J. LYNCH. 

